Composite door



May 30, 1939..

A. JOHNSON COMPOSITE DOOR -Fi led Sept. '11, 1937 2 Sheets-Sheet l y 30, 1939' F. A. JOHNSON COMPOSITE DOOR Filed Sept. 11, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Jew n50?" Fnedf llllllllllll John-$022 3 throughout the several views.

Patented May 30, 19 39 I 1 UNITED STATE more cheaply than and more cheaply than the specific construction the plane of 'Fred A. Johnson,

A. Johnson,

Application September 11,

1 Claim. (01. 20-35) The present invention relates" to composite doors, and is an improvement of my prior Patent 1936. One of the objects of the invention is the provision of an improved door construction by means of which the door may be [made lighter and practically as strong as a solid door of the same size,'with the use of less lumber.

Another object is the provision of a door construction by means of which doors may be constructed of relatively short and thin pieces of lumber, sometimes called-lath lumber in the trade. a

nother object is the provision of an improved door construction which may be manufactured the devices. of the p in my prior patent, referred to, so that the door be sold at a lower price and placed within the means of a larger number of purchasers.

Another object of, the invention is the pro-- vision of an improved door construction which requires less mill work and which may be assembled more quickly and easily than the doors of the prior art, and which has a high degree of strength and rigidity and a very light weight.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings, in which similar characters of reference indicate similar parts Referring to the drawings, of which there are two sheets,

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a door constructed according to the present invention, with certain layers of the door broken away to show the internal construction;

' Fig. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view, taken on v the line 2-4 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view, taken on the plane of the line 3--3 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction. of the arrows;.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary elevational view of the 45 upper left corner of the door, with certain of the layers broken away, showing the. details of construction of a door embodying my invention.

Referring to Fig. 1, ill indicates in its entirety the composite door, which is preferably provided with a framework which comprises the vertical rails H and i2 and the horizontal rails l3, M. The vertical rails comprise pieces of lumber which are substantially rectangular in cross section, as

shown in Fig. 4, being provided with four plane sides l5, l6, l1

s PATENT OFFICE COMPOSITE DOOR Chicago, 111., assignor to Fred- .Junior, Chicago, Ill.

' lower frame improved 23 which fit into the slots I9, 20

inches apart; but,

'bers 23 may be used, or any suitable spacing of bers H and I3.

and 5, and at regularly spaced 1937, Serial'No. 163,364

points on the inner side l1 with the rectangular slots I I9. p v

The opposite rail 12 is likewise provided with opposed rectangular slots 20 located at the same level as the slots 19 in the rail H. The upper and i members l3, 14 have their main bodies of substantially rectangular press section, but these rails are provided with the upwardly and-downwardly extending ribs 21', 22; that is to say, theframe members 13 and H are morticed on their inner surfaces. I The thickness of the rib 22 or 2| corresponds to the width of a purality of cross frame members and are located at regularly spaced points in the door frame from 1 top to bottom.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will benoticed that the cross frame members 23 are approximately six of course, this dimension may be varied considerably, and the amount of cross members used depends upon the strength of the door desired and the permissible weight for the door. Any suitable number of cross frame memthem may be employed; 25

The upper and lower rails l3 and H are like.- wise provided with the flat sides 24, 25 and the flat upper edge 26. fiat end 21 of the upper rail l3 abuts against the flat face l1 of the ver--' tical rail H, to which it is secured by gluing, by means of a dowel pin'28 secured in suitable complementary cylindrical bores 29, 30 in the mem- A similar mode of securement is used at all of the four corners of the door between the members H, l2, l3 and M.

It should also be understood that all of the parts employed in the door are secured together by suitable gluing operations, without the necessity for utilizing any nails or securing devices other than those shown. Thus the cross frame 40 members 23are also glued in the slots I9 and 20.

The cross frame members 23 and the ribs 22 are covered by a'multiplicity of vertically extendsection, strips 31-43, etc. are applied to the sides of the ribs 22' and cross frame members 23, the outer faces of these strips lie flush with the door frame members H-l4. These vertical strips may consist of strips which extend the full length of the door, or they may consist of short pieces of lumber, known as lath lumber, in which "case the joints are always broken between adjacent strips, andthe small and short pieces may be interspersed with longer strips, some of which may extend the full length of the door to strengthen the frame.

These strips also are secured in place by gluing the faces which oppose the edge of the cross frame members 23 to these members and by gluing the strips 3 |33 edge to edge, and with their edges to the adjacent rails H-il. The frame members II and 12 are then finished at their edges or faces I5 with strips of finishing luJnber 34, which are substantially rectangular in cross-section, and preferably thinner in the dimension which extends parallel to the plane of the door.

These strips 34-35 may be of more expensive wood, since they cover that portion of the door which is visible at the edges thereof, and in the same way the top and bottom of the door may be provided with additional strips, but that is not necessary, as those edges are not usually accessible to the sight.

At the middle of the door, adjacent the point where the lock 36 is to be morticed in, the door frame is preferably provided with an additional block 31, which may be as wide as one of the strips 3|, and which substantially fills the space between the two adjacent cross frame members 23 at that point. Thus the part of the door where the lock is installed will be solid and will have ample material for securement of the lock and the plates,

The two,faces of the door frame thus constructed are then preferably covered with one or more layers of veneer 38, 39, 40 and H, and preferably in all cases more than one layer is employed, the layers having their grain extending transversely to each other.

This veneer may be of more expensive wood also, so that the door may present the appearance of a solid oak or solid mahogany door, if desired, or any of the known woods may be empoyed to cover the door frame, which is of the cheaper material. The veneer layers 39-4l are also glued to the frame so far described and to each other and they extend to the extreme edge of the frame, covering the complete lateral faces of the door.

It will thus be observed that I have invented an improved door construction which requires less parts than any of the devices of the prior art, but in which the door is light, yet stiff and strong. The edge-to-edge construction and securement -of the strips 3I--33, etc. between the edges of the rails H and i2, and end rails l3 and I4, provides the door with all of the bracing which it requires.

The transverse strip 23, which are secured in slots, and which have their edges secured to the strips 3l-33, etc. also serve to brace the doors so that there is no possibility whatever of the door sagging out of square, and all of the foregoing is additionally held in place by the layers of veneer.

The present door is more economical to manufacture than that shown in my prior patent and may be produced at a lower cost. The present door is believed to be just as strong as the door of my prior patent, and much stronger than any of the other prior art devices. It is lighter than any of the devices of the prior art, and by virtue of the low cost of the frame and lesser amount of lumber employed, it is a door which can compete in price with any of the devices of the prior art.

While I have illustrated a preferred embodiment of my invention, many modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention, and I do not wish to be limited to the precise details of construction set forth, but desire to avail myself of all changes within the scope of the appended claim.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

A composite door comprising a pair of'vertical frame members and a pair of horizontal end frame members secured together to form a substantially rectangular frame, with a multiplicity of horizontal frame members extending from one vertical frame member to the other, said vertical frame members being provided with slots fitting the ends of said horizontal frame members, and a plurality of vertical frame members comprising slats glued to said latter horizontal frame members and glued together edge to edge, covering both sides of said frame from one vertical frame member to the other, and from one horizontal end frame member to the other, all of said vertical slats being provided with grooves for receiving said latter horizontal frame members, and all of said parts being glued together, and a covering of ornamental material glued to said slats and rectangular frame-work, toprovide a finished surface for the door.

FRED A. JOHNSON. 

